In the clash against T1 while donning a new outfit, Peanut and his teammates were defeated. Since MSI 2023, this is Peanut’s first loss against his former team. Furthermore, during the match, “Little Peanut” also seemed to underperform compared to his younger counterpart Oner. Notably, Peanut was unable to assist Zeka or have any impact on other lanes, especially the Top Lane where Doran struggled against Zeus. The defeat was collective, but Peanut couldn’t replicate what he had done many times in the jersey of Gen.G: defeating T1.
Of course, besides T1’s outstanding performance, it must be noted that Hanwha Life Esports also did not perform well. In particular, as Peanut himself admitted, this team focused too much on Faker and forgot that T1 still has other talented players. In both games, HLE opted for Corki—a champion that Faker plays exceptionally well but has not appeared much in LCK Spring 2024. Meanwhile, they also picked Aphelios—another champion that requires equipment, and the HLE lineup had no champions capable of strong early-game fights. Meanwhile, T1 had Yone, Orianna, and Pyke, Rell—champions that just need their ultimates to be effective.
After the match, Peanut had to admit: “Because of Faker’s high win rate with Corki, we built our draft around this. In game 1, when we were in a tough spot, I felt like we had to fight at least once, and now was the best time for Corki. In reality, we could face the opponent when they picked Corki, but this time it seems we were too focused on Faker’s choice and picked Corki anyway.”
HLE’s somewhat “self-sabotaging” draft caused them to almost lose control of the game right from the laning phase. Zeka’s Corki could not compare to the veteran on the other side, while the rest of HLE’s lineup could not engage in continuous fights. As a result, Zeka’s Corki was obliterated by T1 before he could even become strong.
The journey of the teams in LCK Spring 2024 is still very long. But for teams like HLE, perhaps they have come to realize how strong their direct competitors are. And perhaps Peanut must also understand that Chovy is no longer by his side. Therefore, every strategic choice must be made carefully as T1 has players who can change the course of a match in an instant.